Take Back the Port of Darwin! By James Reed

“We have an incredible opportunity to have the Australian Government take back the Port of Darwin and other key infrastructure from the clutches of Communist China.

Long-time readers of Nation First will know that I launched the ‘China Inquiry’ in parliament via my role as chairman of the Parliamentary Joint Standing Committee on Trade and Investment Growth. That parliamentary inquiry looked into our economic entanglement with Communist China and ways in which to untangle ourselves as a nation. Many of you contributed submissions to that inquiry. The committee then delivered a report, titled Pivot, to the parliament earlier this year and made a range of recommendations to the Australian Government. The Pivot report urges the government to pivot away from Communist China by:

·     Scrutinising the 99-year Chinese lease over the Port of Darwin and, if (when!) it’s found not to be in the national interest, bring the port back under Australian ownership. The report also says we should do the same with other ports and strategic infrastructure in the hands of foreigners.

·     Applying a clear and consistent national interest test to all future foreign investment (and if it’s not in the national interest, veto with abandon!); and

·     Forcing universities to disclose any foreign funding they receive, and blocking such funding if it’s not in the national interest (such as funding from Communist China for Confucius Institutes).

With Scott Morrison giving recent indications he may reverse the lease of the Port of Darwin, now is your opportunity to send a message to the Australian Government that you want action via a new petition website I’ve set up!

I have begun this new petition to call on the Australian Government to bring the Port of Darwin back under Australian ownership, along with any other ports or strategic infrastructure currently foreign-owned, as a matter of urgency, in the interests of national security and sovereignty. The petition also urges the Australian Government to prioritise full implementation of the Pivot report's common sense solutions and recommendations, which you can read about at https://www.georgechristensen.com.au/darwin

Here is the latest from the PM:

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-9535797/Scott-Morrison-asks-urgent-review-Chinese-owned-Port-Darwin-agreement.html

“Scott Morrison has asked for an urgent review into the Chinese-owned Port of Darwin agreement, as national security experts warn the deal is a 'strategic own goal'.

The Department of Defence will determine whether Chinese company Landbridge should cease ownership of the Northern Territory port on national security grounds.

The deal, which was signed six years ago and involves the 99-year-lease of the Port of Darwin, has been questioned by federal opposition and national security experts. 

Defence Minister Peter Dutton confirmed his department was going to 'come back with some advice' after the probe was requested by the National Security Committee of Cabinet, The Sydney Morning Herald reported. 

Landbridge is owned by Chinese billionaire Ye Cheng. 

Last week, the prime minister suggested his government would take action if he was advised to by the department. 

'If there is any advice that I receive from the Department of Defence or intelligence agencies that suggest that there are national security risks there then you'd expect the government to take action on that, and that would be right,' Mr Morrison said.  

Director of the Australian Strategic Policy Institute's defence program Michael Shoebridge said he wondered whether operating the port is in the 'company's commercial interests' amid 'the strategic environment they find themselves'. 

'I think it's obvious that if the Darwin port lease was being considered today, the result would not be to lease it to a Chinese-owned company for 99 years,' he said. 

It seems a strategic own goal for one of the best parts of Darwin harbour to be in the control of a Chinese-owned operator.' 

The $506 million agreement with Landbridge was signed by the NT government back in 2015.

It gives Landbridge complete operational control of the port, as well as 80 per cent of ownership of the land and facilities at East Arm wharf. 

Luke Gosling, the federal Labor member for Solomon - the electorate that contains Darwin - previously told Daily Mail Australia the city's port is a strategic asset that 'should be under Australian control'. 

'The Coalition were asleep at the wheel - or worse - when it waved through this century-long lease for a short-term cash injection,' he told Daily Mail Australia on Wednesday.

'From the time of the sale, I have consistently challenged the decision to lease our nationally strategic port to a foreign entity.

'The $506 million was spent years ago, and the lease still has another 94 years to go.'”

We need to get back the Port of Darwin, so sign the petition, and contact your local member of federal parliament.